Oar



' June 4, 1935. f ANKARLQ 2,003,418

OAR

Filed March 2', 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 V. ANKARLO' June 4, 1935.

OAR

Filed March 2, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m Nd ekm g Patented June 4, 1935 OAR Victor Ankarlo, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor of three per cent to R. 0. Peterson, Duluth, Minn., and ninety-seven per cent to Hannah C.'Ankarlo,

Milwaukee, Wis.

Application March 2, 1933, SerialNo. 659,262

3 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in oars. V

It is an object of this invention to provide an oar having means embodied therein to obtain a 5 mechanical advantage.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide an oar comprising two sections geared together in such a'manner that greater speed may be obtained with less effort. 7

It is also an object ofthis invention to provide an car which permits the user to face the bow of the boat. I And a further object of this invention is to provide an oar f the character described which is of sturdy simple constructionand readily adjustable to any type of-boat. v

. With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended c1aims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, one complete example of the physical embodiment of this invention is illustrated constructed according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the conventional row boat equipped with oars constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the central portion of one car;

Figure 3 is an enlarged View partly in section and partly in elevation, taken on the plane of the line 3-3 in Figure 2; and.

Figure 4 is av detail perspective view. of the connection for attaching the mounting structureof the oar to the boat.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the

:. numeral 5 represents a conventional row boat having gunwales 6 to which the cars, indicated generally by the numeral I, are attached.

Heretofore, with the conventional oars, the user was required to face the stern of the boat and row backward, but this invention enables the occupant to face the bow of the boat which is obviously an advantage.

Each oar consists of a handle section 8 and a paddle section 9 pivotally mounted and geared together, as at I0, so that pivotal movement of one section is transmitted to the other section. The gear connection between'the oar sections comprises two tubular members I I and I2 into which the handle and paddle sections are respectively fitted. The adjacent ends of the tubular 5 members have fiat extensions I3 and I4 pivotally mounted on studs I5 and I6, respectively. The studs I5 and I6 are fixed to a supporting member I'I'adapted to be attached to the gunwale ofthe boat in a manner to be hereinafter described. 10

Nuts threaded on the'ends of the studs I 5 and I6 readily detachably maintain the members II and I2 assembled with the supporting member.

At the meeting ends of the flat extensions I3 and I4, are meshing gear segments I8 and I9, respectively, whereby pivotal movement of the member II is transmitted to as similar but op posite pivotal movement on the part of the member I2.

It is observed that the pitch radius of the segment I8 is substantially greater than that of the segment I9 'so that the speed of the driven member I2 which carries the paddle section 9 is greater than that of the member II in which the handle section 8 of the car is secured. This permits the operator to manipulate the oars with a comparatively slow action which is obviously less tiring.

Through the transfer of motion from the large diameter gear segment I8 of the member I I to the small diameter segment I9 of the member I8, a loss in power is entailed, but this loss is offset by the increased speed of the paddle section. Moreover, as compared to the conventional oar which is mounted in an oar-lock carried directly by the gunwale, there is not only an increase in the speed of the paddle section without necessitating a corresponding increase in the speed of manual actuation, but also a substantial increase in the effective force. This advantage is obtained by virtue of the fact that the pivots I5 and I6 are spaced a considerable distance out from the gunwale;

The supporting member I I is preferably a casting comprising a head upon which the studs I5 and I6 are mounted, and an arm ZI extending therefrom to be attached to the gunwale of the boat. It is observed that the arm 2| is ofiset vertically with respect to the head 20, as at 22, to position the outer extremity'of the arm in a lower plane than the head 2!! and afiord greater clearance for the handle section.

A second arm 23 is pivotally connected, as at 24, to the supporting member. This arm 23 is also offset, as at 25, and is made adjustable with respect to the arm 2| to accommodate boats of different shapes. The extremities of the arms 2| and 23 have clamps 26 attached thereto by which the arms are secured to the gunwales of the boat. The construction of these" clamps, and the manner of their attachment to the arms is best illustrated in Figure 4.

Each clamp 26 has spaced yokes 21 and 2B. The yoke 28 carries a screw 29, between the inner end of which and the face of the yoke 2! the gunwale is adapted to be clamped. An aperture 30 extending horizontally through the yoke 21 receives a cylindrical pin 3| forming part of a coupling 32 by which the clamp is attached to its arm. The cylindrical extension 3| being rotatable in the bore 30 obviously permits the clamp to be swung on the horizontal axis of the coupling.

The outer end of the coupling 32 is substantially Oblong in shape and has a vertical bore 33. A correspondingly shaped opening 34 in the arm receives the oblong end of the coupling with its bore 33 aligning with a bore 35 in the arm. A pin 36 received in the aligned bores 33 and 35 serves to pivotally connect the coupling with the arm, and as the opening 34 is wider than the oblong end of the coupling, a degree of lateral movement is permitted between the coupling and the arm. In this manner, a substantial but freely adjustable connection is afforded between the arms and the boat, and while the structure shown is particularly well adapted to this purpose, other constructions obviously may be employed to afford the'necessary adjustability to accommodate any type of'boat.

It is particularly noted that the connection of the arms to the gunwale is such that the arms abut the outer faces of the gunwale to receive support directly therefrom.

Provision is alsomade for adjusting the length of the handle section 8 and paddle section 9 of the oars. This is readily accomplished in the manner illustrated in Figure 3, by providing a detent 31 carried by the round end of the paddle section and handle section and engageable in one of a plurality of openings 38 formed in the members H and [2 to readily releasably hold the oar sections in different positions of adjustment with respect to the members I l and I2.

It is also noted that the tubular member l2 which carries the paddle section is inclined upwardly with respect to the plane of its gear segment. Consequently the sections of the oar are disposed at an angle to each other. This construction precludes clipping of the oar too deeply into the water and also facilitates making the return stroke.

In use, the operator faces the bow of the boat and actuates the oars in the conventional manner. The vertical tilting to dip the cars into the water and remove them from the'water takes place about'axes adjacent the gunwale of the boat and passing through the substantially, universal mountings afiorded by the connections of the clamps 26 with their respective supporting member arms. As already pointed out, the motion imparted manually to the handle sections of the oars is transferred to the paddle sections through their gear connections, and by virtue of the fact that the pivot points about which the sections oscillate are positioned at a substantial distance from the gunwale of the boat and approximately midway in the total length of the oars, the effective force at the extremity of the paddle sections is but slightly less than that applied to the handle sections, the loss in applied force being entailed by the ratio of the gear segments.

However, even with a loss in force, the oars of this invention are far more eflicient than the conventional type for not only is the eifective resultant force greater, but also the speed of the paddle section is twice that of the handle section.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An oar comprising a supporting member havinga head and an arm rigid therewith, a second arm pivotally connected with the head portion for movement toward and away from the first arm, means carried at the extremities of the arms to readily detachably secure the same to the gunwale of a boat while permitting vertical tilting movement of the entire supporting member about an axis adjacent the gunwale, a handle section pivotally mounted on said head of the supporting member, a' paddle section pivotally mounted on said head of the supporting member, and means carried by said sections to transmit motion from one to the other.

'2. An oar comprising a supporting member having a head portion and an arm rigid therewith, a second arm pivotally connected with the headportion for movement toward and away from the first arm, clamps to attach the arms to the gunwale of a boat, means "connecting the clamps with the outer extremities of the arms, said means having a substantial degree of universal adjustment to accommodate different angular dispositions of the gunwale, a pair of spaced pivot studs mounted on the head of the supporting member, a handle section pivotally mounted on one of said studs, apaddle section pivotally mounted on the other of said studs, and means carried by the sections to transmit motion from one to the other.

3. An oar comprising, a handle section, a paddle section, and means to operatively connect the handle section and paddle section and to mount the same from the gunwale of a boat, comprising a supporting arm, a substantially flat head formed as an integral part of the arm at one end thereof, a second arm pivotally connected with said head for movement toward and away from the other arm, means at the extremities of said arms to detachably secure the same to the gunwale of a boat, said attaching means enabling movement of said connected arms in a vertical plane about an axis directly adjacent the gunwale of the boat, means to pivotally mount the handle and paddle sections on said fiat head, and means to drivingly connect said handle and paddle sections, the pivotal mountings of the handle and paddle sections precluding all relative movement between said sections and the said flat head and consequently the arms except the said pivotal movement whereby vertical force applied to the handle section causes the entire mechanism to tilt vertically about the axis adjacent the gunwale ofthe boat.

VICTOR ANKARLO. 

